4 of a family becoming permanently blind in Nilphamari
April 11, 2010
Political changeover brings misfortune to a poor family
Four members of an extreme poor family in Nilphamari are going to be permanently blind as directive of the then chief advisor of the last caretaker government for providing them proper treatment was ignored after political changeover.
Long prevailing political culture of the country to ignore or deny the programmes or directives of the predecessors thus has created a humanitarian crisis for that family.
Victim’s family sources informed that a newspaper report on four members of the Read more
Acute water crisis persists in city
April 11, 2010
Water continues to be scarce around Dhaka city, with the Water and Sewerage Authority continuing to blame the power crisis.
The worst-hit areas are the older parts of the city, including Sutrapur, Dayaganj, Narinda, Shakhari Bazar, Dholaikhal, Bongshal, Jatrabari, Mugda, Basabo, Badda, Mirpur and Mohammadpur.
Residents of the areas said they are experiencing very short supplies of water from morning till night everyday. In some areas there is no water the Read more
Outage mounts as gas runs low
March 28, 2010
Govt starts to shed more electricity from Dhaka in nights; PDB fails to get rental power this month
The government has taken a decision to shed 150-200MW of power in Dhaka city from midnight to 9:00am to meet the demand of electricity for irrigation during Boro season.
The nightmare called load-shedding is back with a vengeance as the mercury is shooting up, while gas supply to the power stations is running alarmingly low.
The frequency of load-shedding in the last few weeks has become unbearable as power failure is not only taking place in usual alternate hours during the day; it is taking place deep in the Read more
Call for quick trial of war criminals
March 27, 2010
Nation celebrates Independence Day
The nation paid tribute to its Liberation War martyrs yesterday celebrating the 40th Independence Day, with citizens of all walks of life expressing their expectation that the government will soon start fair and expeditious trials of war criminals.
Hundreds of thousands of people of different generations thronged Liberation War memorials across the country all through the day.
Amid the jubilant celebration of independence and solemn remembrance of the martyrs a feeling of resurgence of the spirit of the Liberation War permeated Read more
Safe water remains elusive
March 22, 2010
Poor doubly deceived by WASA
Most of the people in both rural and urban areas still have little or no access to safe drinking water as the policymakers, industries and research workers are yet to come up with a comprehensive and pragmatic plan to address the problem, reports NewAgebd.
Even most of the ‘improved’ sources installed by the Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) provide dirty and stinky water laced with pollutants to consumers.
Poor people, especially the slum dwellers in urban areas, are doubly deceived as they pay more than the well-off sections for Read more
100th int’l women’s day today
March 8, 2010
Men pledge to fight acid menace
On the eve of 100th International Women’s Day celebration, a group of men yesterday vowed to fight against acid violence, which makes many women’s lives a misery.
“As a man, I am ashamed that in over 95 percent cases it is a man who throws acid at women. It really hurts me. I swear to work so that no woman is burnt by acid anymore,” said singer Shuvro Dev at the rally of men against acid violence at Rabindra Sarobar in the city’s Dhanmondi area.
Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF) and the Bangla daily Prothom Alo jointly organised the Read more
Three tanners die from gas poisoning
March 6, 2010
Three workers died from inhaling toxic gas and several others fell ill at a tannery in the city’s Hazaribagh area yesterday morning.
Carbon monoxide, a gas lethal to humans and animals, was the cause of death. It was produced by chemicals mixed in a wrong drum, said officials of the factory, Apex Tannery Ltd.
The three were identified as Shah Alam, 45, Dulal Mia, 45, and Mohammad Solaiman, 55.
The first two died on the spot as they opened the large wooden drum at around Read more
Renaming of airport to cost Taka 1400 crore : Colossal wastage of poor people’s money
February 24, 2010
The renaming of the Zia International Airport as Shah Jalal International Airport was performed on Monday by putting up printed banners on the entrance and departure sides of the main terminal building, but the entire process of change would reportedly cost the exchequer Taka 1400 crore .
The process of name changing would involve not merely replacement of the large neon signs at the Dhaka airport, Zia’s name would have to be removed from neon signs and sign boards, both painted and Read more
SA Games kicks off
January 30, 2010
The 11th South Asian Games got underway with a dazzling opening ceremony at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday with thousand of athletes and performers taking part in the three-and-a-half hour programme, reports The daily Star
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared the 12-day regional sports extravaganza open. Bangladesh had hosted the event in 1985 and 1993.
The colourful opening ceremony started with the march-past led by Afghanistan and Read more
Dhaka City expansion plan revealed in JS
January 21, 2010
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday in parliament said that her government has a mega-city plan to expand the areas of Dhaka city, reports The Daily Star
Hasina also said her government had taken massive initiatives to digitise land survey records in efforts to build modern land administration.
The government is seriously considering giving approval to the Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (1995-2005) covering Read more